1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to box type ratchet wrenches, and is concerned in particular with a spinner adapted to be detachably coupled to the rotatable sockets of such wrenches.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ratchet wrenches are well known to those skilled in the art. The typical ratchet wrench has an elongated handle carrying rotatable sockets at each end. The sockets have through openings which are internally configured to axially receive and rotatively engage particularly sized fasteners, e.g., nuts or bolt heads, and are externally configured as ratchet wheels forming parts of ratchet mechanisms also carried at each end of the wrench handle. The ratchet mechanisms may be adjustable to permit socket rotation in one or the other direction. Alternatively, the ratchet mechanisms may be non-adjustable, in which event only unidirectional socket rotation is permitted. Thus, with non-adjustable ratchet mechanisms, depending on how the wrench is held, a particular ratcheted socket may be employed to either tighten or loosen a fastener. More particularly, if one assumes that the wrench has "top" and "bottom" surfaces, and that with the top surface facing upwardly, the ratchet mechanism is arranged to permit rotation of the handle relative to a socket only in the counterclockwise direction, then the wrench may be employed to rotate a fastener received in that socket in a clockwise "tightening" direction. By reversing the wrench to arrange the bottom surface facing upwardly, the same socket may now be employed to rotate the fastener in a counterclockwise "loosening" direction. The same result may be obtained with adjustable ratchet mechanisms by simply shifting the pawl, without reversing wrench orientation.
Although ratchet wrenches of the above described types have enjoyed widespread commercial acceptance, particularly by mechanics in the automotive field, their efficiency has been continually compromised by several relatively minor yet persistent problems. For example, because the ratcheted sockets have through openings, there is a tendency for fasteners such as bolt heads to pass completely through the sockets. This becomes particularly bothersome when the wrenches are being employed under conditions of limited access and/or visibility.
Also, where fasteners have extended thread runs, the use of such wrenches can be tedious due to the lack of any convenient means for rapidly rotating or "spinning" the sockets in relation to the wrench handles. Spinners are known, but their use has heretofore been limited to drive tools for detachable sockets.